If I orient myself towards doing good, isn’t writing an essay that potentially helps people in their understanding, thinking or even just amusement, the right thing to do, compared to going for a hike?
Ah, the noble angst of the modern mystic: to hike or to hustle, that is the utilitarian question. But let’s be honest. If walking your dog while the world burns is a sin, then Saint Francis is roasting on a spit.
What if the hike wasn’t a distraction from meaning, but the meaning itself? What if your dog is your guru and Pichelsberg is your pulpit? I suspect the grass didn’t need counting. It needed witnessing. And sometimes the truest prayer is made with muddy shoes and an unproductive afternoon.
Blessed be the wasted time that wasn’t wasted at all.
Love 'Resonance not reason'. We have all had the experience of the universal intelligent energy nudging us in a direction our own ego based rationalising could not have led us to, and we can trust it is for a good reason from which ripples will spread 💜
Thank you! A serendipitous post. This morning, I was “trying” to write in the coffee shop, yet nothing was flowing. As I procrastinated into Substack, I saw your post. It’s a beautiful sunny morning so I decided to go home, sit on my patio, and read it.
I often think a walk, instead of working, is procrastination, but I justify it by thinking, “My dog (and I) need it”. But walking in my neighborhood and, even better, hiking in the woods lead to better “output” (oops, calculating, lol). On a recent hike, I asked the universe, “What do you want me to know about my career?” With that question, I took photographs/audio recordings of whatever sparked my attention along the trail. When I returned, I sat down with my notebook and created a narrative around the documented hike. Much more powerful than had I sat at a desk.
Another thought I had was about cause and effect (or the butterfly effect). I don't know the true impact of what I do, even though I can fool myself into believing that I have control. Who’s to say that writing something now is somehow “better” than running into a neighbor and having a friendly chat. Perhaps they had a better day from the chat then all the people who read my writing.
Thanks for taking the hike, Jes. And thank you for philosophy-ing with me. It's an honour.
So much to be said about all of this, including the early calls to critically reflect on the rather often implicit utilitarian logic at the basis of most 'moral reasoning' (if we can call it that) in 'modern society'. One thing that often comes to mind here, which has of course been explored in detail, is the way in which utility is defined (it can of course be defined in many ways). But for the uninitiated (i.e. those who haven't spent thousands of hours scouring philosophical discourse, perhaps because they were being in the world in some way far more meaningful to them), it pays to ask, what is the value of utility? Why is pleasure good? Why is happiness good? How can good actually be determined, given each individual subject is an entirely unique expression of universal process? In my experience, in some important way, as we go deeper into 'unpacking' the 'utilitarian layers' we may end up finding that there are actually non-instrumental beliefs at the heart of instrumental beliefs (something that perhaps isn't spoken about quite enough. I note this isn't to say, in some very important way, utility isn't wrapped up in 'needs', needs that we care for as self organising and self making beings, but that's a whole other can of worms...).
Really looking forward to seeing you again later this week. I hope to have gone for a hike between now and then.
What a beautiful word picture you painted... Such an eloquent description of thoughts that have rolled around in my head but that I could never express. Thank you for sharing your gift of insight. 😊🙏❤️
Ah, the noble angst of the modern mystic: to hike or to hustle, that is the utilitarian question. But let’s be honest. If walking your dog while the world burns is a sin, then Saint Francis is roasting on a spit.
What if the hike wasn’t a distraction from meaning, but the meaning itself? What if your dog is your guru and Pichelsberg is your pulpit? I suspect the grass didn’t need counting. It needed witnessing. And sometimes the truest prayer is made with muddy shoes and an unproductive afternoon.
Blessed be the wasted time that wasn’t wasted at all.
Virgin Monk Boy
Love 'Resonance not reason'. We have all had the experience of the universal intelligent energy nudging us in a direction our own ego based rationalising could not have led us to, and we can trust it is for a good reason from which ripples will spread 💜
💚🙏
Thank you! A serendipitous post. This morning, I was “trying” to write in the coffee shop, yet nothing was flowing. As I procrastinated into Substack, I saw your post. It’s a beautiful sunny morning so I decided to go home, sit on my patio, and read it.
I often think a walk, instead of working, is procrastination, but I justify it by thinking, “My dog (and I) need it”. But walking in my neighborhood and, even better, hiking in the woods lead to better “output” (oops, calculating, lol). On a recent hike, I asked the universe, “What do you want me to know about my career?” With that question, I took photographs/audio recordings of whatever sparked my attention along the trail. When I returned, I sat down with my notebook and created a narrative around the documented hike. Much more powerful than had I sat at a desk.
Another thought I had was about cause and effect (or the butterfly effect). I don't know the true impact of what I do, even though I can fool myself into believing that I have control. Who’s to say that writing something now is somehow “better” than running into a neighbor and having a friendly chat. Perhaps they had a better day from the chat then all the people who read my writing.
Fully agree Rich. And happy to think about you reading this while enjoying the sun.
great stuff and once again beautiful art as well ♡
Thank you 🙏
Thanks for taking the hike, Jes. And thank you for philosophy-ing with me. It's an honour.
So much to be said about all of this, including the early calls to critically reflect on the rather often implicit utilitarian logic at the basis of most 'moral reasoning' (if we can call it that) in 'modern society'. One thing that often comes to mind here, which has of course been explored in detail, is the way in which utility is defined (it can of course be defined in many ways). But for the uninitiated (i.e. those who haven't spent thousands of hours scouring philosophical discourse, perhaps because they were being in the world in some way far more meaningful to them), it pays to ask, what is the value of utility? Why is pleasure good? Why is happiness good? How can good actually be determined, given each individual subject is an entirely unique expression of universal process? In my experience, in some important way, as we go deeper into 'unpacking' the 'utilitarian layers' we may end up finding that there are actually non-instrumental beliefs at the heart of instrumental beliefs (something that perhaps isn't spoken about quite enough. I note this isn't to say, in some very important way, utility isn't wrapped up in 'needs', needs that we care for as self organising and self making beings, but that's a whole other can of worms...).
Really looking forward to seeing you again later this week. I hope to have gone for a hike between now and then.
Thanks Nate, I agree, there is so many layers to this. 🙏
What a beautiful word picture you painted... Such an eloquent description of thoughts that have rolled around in my head but that I could never express. Thank you for sharing your gift of insight. 😊🙏❤️
Thank you, Tim ❤️.